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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26805826">Breaking Free</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravin/pseuds/Ravin'>Ravin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Supervillain, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Gen, Podfic, Podfic Length: 0-10 Minutes, podfic included</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:20:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>419</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26805826</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravin/pseuds/Ravin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky breaks free of Hydra before the movies. Hydra tells the world he is the villain.</p><p>Written for Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020 Square: Y1-AU: Supervillain</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020, Podfic Bingo</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Breaking Free</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Scroll down for work text.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p>
<p></p><div class="cover">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><div class="content"><h3>Streaming Audio</h3><p>
    <audio></audio>
  </p>
<h3>Download or Stream from Dropbox</h3><p> </p>
<p></p><div class="content2"><p><a href="https://www.dropbox.com/s/q9ul6f5ki2kiwqj/BreakingFree.mp3?dl=0">MP3</a> | 00:03:04 | 2.62 MB</p></div></div><p>
      <span>Bucky would like to say that breaking free of Hydra’s control was like waking up after a long, </span>
      <em>
        <span>long</span>
      </em>
      <span>, sleep. But it wasn’t. Waking up is easy. Painless. Breaking free of Hydra’s conditioning was anything but. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>Maybe a better comparison would be detoxing after a long drug binge. It hurt all over. Everything in his head was screaming at him. </span>
    </p><p>
      <em>
        <span>Go back. </span>
      </em>
    </p><p>
      <em>
        <span>Don’t. </span>
      </em>
    </p><p>
      <em>
        <span>Stay here. </span>
      </em>
    </p><p>
      <em>
        <span>Run. </span>
      </em>
    </p><p>
      <span>He was lost and confused and didn’t know what he should do. So he did nothing. He waited, hidden in the attic of the old abandoned apartment building. He waited, covered in sweat and tears and vomit. He waited, not knowing why but he couldn’t go back. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>And they would make him go back.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>Or they would if they could find him. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>He dug the tracker out of his metal arm with a knife that was still covered in the blood of his last target.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>His thoughts were becoming clearer now.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>He could hear Hydra entering the building many stories below him.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>He could hear his handlers shouting, “Солдатский отчет!”</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>And he could make his own decisions.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>Bucky left the tracker on the floor and he exited through the window.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>All the skills and training they had drilled into the Winter Soldier Bucky put them to work now, against Hydra.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>The Hydra agents never spotted him. They had no way of knowing how long ago he had left the tracker behind. He made sure there were no more trackers in him. Waiting days at another location before moving on. No one came for him. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>The longer he was free from their control, the easier it became to think. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>He stayed on the run. Hydra was everywhere. They had infiltrated the majority of the world’s governments and significant security organizations. Bucky couldn’t stop. Couldn’t settle down anywhere. Besides he had nowhere to go to. No one was waiting for him. His family had passed years ago. Steve was long gone. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>Steve.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>Remembering Steve helped Bucky realize what he had to do.</span>
    </p><p>
      <span>He targeted all the Hydra facilities he could remember. There were a lot of them. He wasn’t picky about the type of facility either. They were all Hydra. They had to go. </span>
    </p><p>
      <span>They labeled him a supervillain. Told the public he was some kind of evil mutant trying to usurp the world’s governments. They marshaled armies against him. But the soldier had learned their lessons too well.</span>
    </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Russian should read "Soldier, report!" but I don't actually speak Russian. I apologize for butchering it in my attempt to pronounce it.</p><p>Written for Bucky Barnes Bingo 2020 Square: Y1-AU: Supervillain</p><p>Recorded for Podfic Bingo 2020 Squares: "Write and record your own story" and "AU"</p></blockquote></div></div>
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